1. Elements of short stories

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Plot
Action or series of events in a story.
A roadmap for the story.
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Stages of plot
Exposition – the part of a story in which the setting and the main characters are made known.
Climax – the moment of greatest excitement in a story.
Resolution – the final outcome of a conflict.
Rising action – the events leading to the climax.
Falling action – the events after the climax leading to the resolution.
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Complication
Events that make a situation more difficult.
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Suspense
Excitement felt while waiting to see how a situation will turn out.
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Characterization
The people in a narrative or drama.
Round – A character who has many, often contradictory, qualities; sometimes called three-dimensional.
Flat – A character who is presented with a single or very limited set of qualities, sometimes called two-dimensional.
Protagonist - who takes the leading part in a drama, story, or novel
Antagonist - one that opposes another
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Examples
Protagonist – Snow White
Antagonist - Queen
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Conflict
The problem or struggle in a story that triggers the action.
Person vs. Person
Person vs. Society
Person vs. Self
Person vs. Nature
Person vs. Fate
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Examples
Person vs. Person – Snow White/Queen
Person vs. Society – Denzel Washington in Remember the Titans and Wil Smith in Pursuit of Happyness
Person vs. Self – Rudy, could also be Wil Smith in Pursuit of Happyness
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Other Examples
Person vs. Nature
Person vs. Fate
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Conflict
In other words, conflict can be external of internal.
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Theme
The abstract concept that is embodied in and expanded upon in a work of literature. It is made evident through the action, the characters and the images.
Statement about life that a writer is trying to get across. Often it is implied.
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Setting
The physical location of the events in a narration. Setting may include the geographical location, the socioeconomic background, the historical period, and the cultural environment.
The time and place in which the action of a literary work occurs.
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Point of View
The outlook from which the events in a novel or story are related.
The vantage point from which the story is told.
Omniscient – all knowing
Limited Omniscient – one character
Camera View (objective) – storyteller speaks from his own point of view, and is unaware of the other characters’ thoughts or feelings
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Foreshadowing
use of clues to hint at event that will occur later in the plot or story.
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Tone
The overall feeling, or effect, created by a writer’s use of words. This feeling may be serious, humorous, or satiric.
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Imagery
Concrete sensory description, frequently extended to nonsensory objects; language that appeals to the senses
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Symbol
Person, place thing or event that stands both for itself and something beyond itself
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Allusion
Reference to a statement, a person, a place, or an event from literature, history, religion, myth, politics, sports, science or the arts
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Irony
Occurs when an effect is produced that is different form what might have been expected. In verbal irony, the intended meaning of words contrasts sharply with their literal meaning. In dramatic irony, the audience or reader knows something that the character does not; therefore, speeches and actions are understood differently by the audience than by the characters. In fiction, irony is often produced when the actions of a character lead that character progressively further away form a desired goal.
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Metaphor
Comparing two opposite things without using the words “like” or “as”
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Simile
Comparing two things using the words “like” or “as”
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